Greek Verse:

Literal Alternative:

So he stated to them, "Hating humanity caused this thing." So they relayed to him, "So do you want [us] going out that we might collect them?"

Hidden Meaning:

There are a number of untranslated words here as well as words added. While the KJV translation conveys the story, what is lost is the answer to the question about the reason for the existence of evil in the world, which was posed symbolically in the previous verse, Mat 13:27. The answer, given here, is obscured by translation. See this article on the "problem" of evil for more context.

Untranslated is the Greek conjugation usually translated as"but" but which is used here to continue the story by providing an explanation, "so."

"Said" is not from one of the common words translated as "say" or "tell." It has the sense of making a strong statement.

The source of "an enemy" is from an adjective that means "hated", "hating," and "hateful." The Greek word for "man" is untranslated here. It means "person" and "humanity" in the singular and "people" and "peoples" in plural. So the sense is either "the hated man" or "hating humanity."

The Greek word translated as "hath done" has the primary meaning of "making" or producing" something or "causing" or "rendering" as service.

Again, untranslated is the Greek conjugation usually translated as"but" but which is used here to continue the story by providing an explanation, "so."

In the original Greek source (as opposed to the source used by the KJV), there is no word for "servants". All that appears is a plural article, which we can translated as "they."

The Greek word translated as "said" is not the ordinary "to say" or "to speak" in Greek nor is it the even more unusual word translated as "said" above. This word means both "idle chatter", "gossip," and "the proclamations of an oracle." Christ uses it to capture the idea of "pass on," because that captures both someone gossiping and an oracle does. The word is somewhat self-effacing.

The Greek word translated as "will" has a primary purpose to express consent, desire, and even a delight in doing something.

The Greek word translated as "then" either emphasizes the truth of something ("certainly", "really") or it simply continues an existing narrative, "then" or "therefore."

The word translated as "that we go" is a compound verb that means "to go or come from." It is usually used to means "depart" but here, the sense is more "go out." However, it is in the form of an adjective or noun, "going out."

There is no source word for "and."

The word translated as "gather," also means to "collect", "come together." It is in a form indicate something that might happen.

Wordplay:

The word translated as "an enemy" means either "a hateful man" or "hating humanity." The is an answer to the question of evil.

Vocabulary:

ὁ (article sg masc nom) "He" is the Greek article, "the," which usually proceeds a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one."

δὲ "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if"). --

αὐτοῖς (adj pl masc dat) "Unto them" is from autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."

Ἐχθρὸς (adj sg masc nom) "An enemy" is from echthros, which means "the hated", "the hateful", "the hostile", "the enemy", "the alienated," and "the hating."

ἄνθρωπος (noun sg masc nom) Untranslated is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate. --

οἱ (article pl masc nom) "The servants" is from the Greek article, "the," which usually proceeds a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."

δὲ "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if"). --

αὐτῷ adj sg masc dat "Unto him" is from autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."

λέγουσιν (verb 3rd pl pres ind act) "Said" is from laleo, which means "to talk, ""to speak ""to prattle", "to chat," and [for oracles] "to proclaim." It also means "chatter" as the opposite of articulate speech.Θέλεις (verb 2nd sg pres ind act) "Wilt thou" is from thelo, which as a verb means "to be willing (of consent rather than desire)", "to wish", "to ordain", "to decree", "to be resolved to a purpose ""to maintain", "to hold", "to delight in, and "will (to express a future event when used with inanimate things).)." As an adverb, "willingly," and "gladly." and "to desire." As an adjective, it means "wished for" and "desired."

οὖν "Then" is from oun, which means "certainly", "in fact", "really", "in fact, ""so" and "then" (continuing a narrative), and "then" and "therefore."

αὐτά; (adj pl neut acc) "Them" is from autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."